David O. Night Assignments

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Assignment 1: Reasons for Writing

Ellie Wiesel's purpose
Ellie Wiesel wrote the book Night for many different reasons. First of all Wiesel wrote Night because he wanted to give meaning to his survival of the Holocaust. Secondly he thought it was his moral obligation to spread the message of the Nazis atrocious crimes. Another reason is he felt that if he told the story of the horrible life and hardships of living in concentration camps, he would help people understand the cruelness of genocide. Finally he presumed that if by chance his book was read he could stop another tragedy like the holocaust from happening again and possibly save people’s lives.

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Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search

Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/

Topics to Know	Questions	Answers
Nazi Propaganda	Who is Joseph Goebbels? List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm	They controlled film making and production. They sought out those who might write articles against Nazis and Hitler. They sold cheap radios so everyone could her Hitler speak.
Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/ Wannsee Conference	What is Kristallnacht and what does the word mean? When did it happen? http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/ Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference? What was the Final Solution? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477	On November 9–10, 1938 the “Night of Broken Glass” or Kristallnacht happened. 15 Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at Wannsee to plan the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The "Final Solution" was the code name of the genocide of all European Jews.
The Victims	Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust? Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007457 CLUE: Begin reading at “Targeted Groups”	Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, and Afro-Germans were subjected to persecution and imprisonment. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and asocials were considered enemies and security risks because they did not fully agree with or act like the Nazis idea of how people should act.
The Ghettos	Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059 What was life like in the ghettos? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445	1. The 3 types of ghettos are closed ghettos, open ghettos, and destruction ghettos. 2. Life in the ghettos was miserable. Many Jews tried to smuggle food and commit other illegal activities just to stay alive.
The Camps	There were two kinds of camps: labor camps and death/extermination camps. What is the difference between the two? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144 What were the conditions? What different types of extermination were performed? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005145	1. The extermination camps were simply to kill Jews by sending them g into gas chambers. In labor camps Jews usually died of exhaustion from working. 2. The condition of the camps were horrible many Jews either died or exhaustion or were killed. 3. They died from gas chambers, exhaustion, starvation, and exposure.
The Liberation & The Nuremberg Trials	Who liberated the camps? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131 What did Hitler do near the end of the war? How many defendants were charged during the Nuremberg Trials? What did they represent? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007143 What did the International Military Tribunal decide was not a legitimate defense? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007142	The Allied troops liberated the camps. Hitler committed suicide near the end of the war. 24 defendants represented cross-section of German diplomatic, economic, political, and military leadership. They decided “following orders” was not a legitimate defense.

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